1400 year old Temple, Chiang Mai

This temple is located in the city of Chiang Mai, it was built in the 1400's....The bells outside are to be rung 3 times each. The figures on the temple are wearing away from the monsoons. I thought it might have been from a war bc many of the faces are missing, but Sompop said it was bc of the weather. I was surprised they didn't have some sort of protection for these figures.

The Banyan Tree is held in high regard for it was under a Banyan Tree that Buddha was born. During New Year's which I think is in April, Buddhists place these painted white sticks to help support the tree. It is another symbolic way of demonstrating their belief in Buddha.

At some of the local markets, there are pre-packaged buckets filled w/ supplies for the monks that the locals can buy and give to the monks. Shoes, canned fish, toothbrush and paste, and other canned goods that the monks are allowed to eat.

On a side note ------"PH" is pronounced "P." Example, Phuket is Puket. There is Phi Phi Island and PhuPhing Temple. Which means PeePee Island and Poo-ping Temple. Yes I am six years old and that still makes me laugh! :)

Long-neck Tribe

My tour did not include the long-neck tribe, but I had read about it prior to coming to Chiang Mai and asked Sompop if we could go visit in the afternoon.

The Long-neck tribes either come from Tibet or Burma, I can't quite remember. The Thai government has allowed them to live on a sort of reservation type of land in which they must be self sufficient. They have rice fields and other crops as well as chickens and other small livestock. These people are refugees from their homeland and mostly the women are the ones who came to Thailand. The few men who did come to Thailand work in the fields or tend to the elephants.

What about the rings?---These rings around their necks are made of solid brass and are very heavy! It is one long wand of brass that is wound around their necks, not separate rings stacked on top of each other. Only the women wear these and they start from a young age. Back in the day, the rings were protection from large predators such as tigers bc these animals go for the jugular for the kill. Nowadays, they wear the rings for traditional reasons and to fend off the evil "spirits" of the tigers since the actual animal is not present. The rings also attract tourists, which is their main source of income. The maximum number of rings a woman wears is 25-27 depending on the person. However, if a woman marries and she only has 20 rings, she does not have to add the additional 5-7 rings, her husband has become her protector. The women do suffer from skin problems underneath these rings and seldom take them off. Only when a new wand is needed for additional bands I think, and they do sleep in these. Also, their necks are stretched and elongated from this process.

My guide, Sompop encouraged me to sit on the front stoop w/ the woman and her child. I was reluctant to do so bc it felt very invasive. They sit and weave on their looms. She did speak a small amount of english and I was able to ask how old she was, 29, how many children, 4, and her daughter's name was Ma-Mo. All women in the tribe have "Ma" before their name. I did get to take pictures w/ Ma-Mo on my lap, but by having me in the picture, I felt the integrity of the photo was lost.

I wanted to buy one of their handmade goods since they take time to sit and chat and have several tourists trapse by taking photos, pointing etc, I just feel like the least I can do is purchase one of their woven scarves. I asked Ma-Mo to pick one out for me. Now they have beautiful colors and wonderful designs for these scarves. Ma-Mo chose a pure white one for me. Out of all of those beautifully colored scarves, she chose white. I was very surprised. I think after she saw how puzzled I was, she chose a red and purple one. This was her second choice and the one I bought. Looking back, I wish I would have taken the white one bc now I think it was special compared to the rest, but I was focused on the colored material for some reason. I am kicking myself now and wished I would have been more gracious and accepted the white one.

They are a very sweet and hosptitable people. They do have their own language but have needed to learn Thai.

Eventhough this was a functioning village, it also seemed staged in a way. Like these people are on display for the amusement of the tourists. It made me think of the old time circus where Elephant Man or some other freak show was to be displayed. The authenticity of the village seemed forced eventhough this is where they live and work. Additionally, I felt a bit as if I were trespassing in their village.

Temple w/ 14 names, Chiang Mai

After the Meo Hilltribe and Coffee House that puts Starbucks to shame, we went to another Temple. This temple has a name with about 14 different words, Sompop tried to explain it to me, but it just went over my head. This temple is a huge gold, bell looking building. Buddhists walk around the base of the temple 3 times during prayer. Everything is done in 3, one for the Buddha, one for his scripture and one for the monks. There were a few young monks taking in the view and it is polite to ask permission before hand to take their photo. Sompop asked for me and they agreed.

The bells outside are to be rung if you wish, also each time w/ a prayer. Each bell also has a different tone.

I feel I need to explain my ugly pink shirt. I had to throw away clothes as I travel bc I am hard on my clothes and needed t-shirts. When I went to the night market in Chiang Mai, I looked for shirts. Most shirts are Asian-size, not Holly-size or American size for that matter. Little people here. So the only shirts I could find were these ugly pink and white and a blue one just like it. I have since thrown those out too bc they are too loud and feel I draw attention. Plus, the dye already left it's mark on my skin, bra and hands......

In order to make a donation to the temple, you can buy a brass bell and write your name on the little dangle and hang it from the overhang. Of course I did this.

The row of golden Buddhas show different poses that correspond to days of the week. There are more than 7 bc I guess there are 2 poses for Monday. I don't know why. Anyway, Sompop asked me what day I was born in order to figure out which pose was assciated w/ my birthday. I didn't know the day so we looked it up in some ancient sanskrit book and I was born on Tuesday. The pose that is associated with Tuesday is the reclined/sleepy pose. I thought this was funny bc I do sleep alot and have always required more sleep than most bears.

Another activity besides ringing the bells and hanging the brass bell chime, I shook a canister full of bamboo sticks. They are the size and shape of chopsticks, you kneel before Buddha and pray and shake this open-ended canister. The sticks are numbered and they correlate w/ your fortune. So you shake until one stick falls out, look at that number and go to the cubby to get your fortune. Number 3 fell out, my fortune said, "Listen to your elders. Wait for your lover." Okey-dokey.

One thing I cannot conform to is removing my shoes in public restrooms, "toilets". (Americans are the only ones so far who call it restrooms, the rest of the world refers to it as TOILET) Temples and public parks want you to remove your shoes, not at airports or hotels...but I just can't do it. The sanitary conditions here are questionable as it is, I am not going to be barefoot in wet toilets. Speaking of, boys can pee standing up. Girls can't. That would be soooooo beneficial here. And many times you have to buy toilet paper outside the restroom....

Starbucks Who?!

Leaving the Meo Hilltribe (which by the way required a 4-wheel drive truck--road too muddy) I love 4wheeling!! we stopped at a local coffee house. The view from the deck looks down upon the coffee plants and homes of the workers. I was the only customer and even though I don't drink coffee, I had some..."when in Rome" I guess. It was very strong and black but had alot more flavor than I expected. I bought two small bags for gifts. The woman who worked there also worked for the univeristy that runs the coffee house. She told Sompop that it must be a nice lifestyle to be a westerner. I guess we are viewed to have a high quality of life and compared to these people we do. Europeans are viewed as westerners as well, not soley Americans. After thinking about that, I realized that I used think of Europeans as being vastly different than Americans... and far away from the U.S. But really we are more like them than any other culture. High standard of living, belief systems, education, resources, money etc. I view Americans and Europeans in the same boat now after being in Thailand, bc culturally, Southeast Asia is VERY different.

Meo Hilltribe, Chiang Mai

The next morning, Sompop and driver picked me up for a full day tour. We drove about an hour up to the Meo Hilltribe, one of the many tribes in Thailand. These people look very Mongolian, Sompop told me bc they originated in China/Mongolia area. Historically, hilltribes have caused trouble for Thailand bc they have been agriculturists for opium and had large fields of this crop. Bc hilltribes have been a troublesome with drug trade, they get more attention from the King. Sompop said the tribes are very, very poor and this is a great revenue source for them. Anyway, they have a gov't funded school program for the children. I got to view the childrens' classrooms. There is a teacher shortage so one teacher will handle two or more classrooms at a time. The kindergartners have supervision, but the other grades 1,2,3 seemed to just be given an assignment then left alone to complete their work. For the most part, this seemed to work and the children were well behaved. I was able to take pictures of the boys, but the girls were very shy and would scamper off, then peek around the corner. I could have stayed there all day! I think they were as curious about me as I was about them. Once I would take their picture, all the kids would swarm me in order to see themselves on my digital camera and they would laugh and smile and point at each other. It was wonderful. They were so sweet and just regular children. I loved it.

There were a few women who were selling their handmade goods. I usually buy at least one item from each place. It doesn't feel right to just come visit their village, take pictures and leave.

One man with the instrument had some disease similar to Downs Syndrome, he played his flute all the way down the drive behind Sompop and myself, sort of like we had our own parade....

The women weave wonderful crafts and sit outside their primitive home, of which is pictured. Dirt floors and they string a rope of bamboo around the outside, this is usually done by the "medicine man" type of person that sort of blesses the house.

The Meo Hilltribe seemed to be the most real day-to-day functioning village of all the hilltribes I visited. I got to see how they really worked and lived.

I appreciated the one-on-one tour from Sompop, I didn't sign up for a private tour, it just worked out that way due to his company's schedule. Therefore I got all of my multitude of questions answered and more in depth insight into these local people.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

When I arrived in Chiang Mai, only an hour flight from Bangkok, I just needed some time to be "American." Watch movies, eat a burger, flip through the channels, just shut out the world for a bit. It can be overwhelming all at once and just needed to recoup...I am learning so much in Thailand, but it is very very different than any other culture I have yet visited. I just needed some down time for normalcy. So I holed up in my hotel room, drew the curtians and watched The Sound of Music in bed. I have been singing "raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...." ever since. I got up and took a tuk-tuk to the night market which caters to tourists. It is a safer night market than the one in Bangkok bc there are no prostitutes soliciting business and cleaner and smaller altogether. I was encouraged by my guide Tan, in Bangkok to go to the market in Chiang Mai. Even before I got off the plane, I knew i would really like Chiang Mai. Slower paced, cleaner, friendlier environment. I had a new guide here, Sompop. He was terrific as well. I shopped for a bit, then wanted to have a beer. Saw several white people sitting on the patio of one little pub. That may not be the best thing to say, but it is what I thought so I figured it must be safe. It ended up being a German restaurant and had a couple beers and the world's hottest soup. A Thai traditional dish w/ mushrooms and lemongrass. I was sweating and had a runny nose, my lips were on fire!

But it is all good.

After eating Poison-on-a-Stick, I have been very careful of what I eat.

Rose Garden and Elephants!

At the Rose Garden, after lunch, I got to feed the fish, hold birds and pose with the elephants. The elephants performed a short show of dancing, log towing and rolling, and carefully stepping over their human riders....it was very cool. I thought my horse Caesar was big!! There was a baby elephant and it was so neat! Stinky but cute.

Then we had a cultural show of dancing, sword fighting and Thai boxing. Boxing is like kickboxing and always has music played in the background. The animals of course were my favorite part.

There was one part of the theatre performance where the men would sit and clap and shack very long bamboo poles. Other men and women had to time their steps in between these poles. Like how football players have to develope footwork by running through tires laid on the ground. These dancers then speed up to the music. I thought this is the Thai version of Lords of the Dance.

Amulet--at one of the temples, I bought this small charm of Buddha to wear around my neck. Many Buddhists here do that, like how we wear the Cross from Jesus. I bought one bc I wanted to have something from a temple and wanted to be more like the locals and understand why they do what they do. I have gotten at least half a dozen Thai people recognize and applaud the fact I am wearing that. I guess many tourists don't do that and Thai people want tourists to learn and understand Buddha. So my trinket has been a topic of conversation and they are glad I have it. Protection! They say as I walk by and put their hands together and bow as they do upon greeting someone. I think it's cool that they think it's cool.